{"id":26775,"date":"2022-10-23T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26775"},"modified":"2022-10-21T17:55:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T17:55:20","slug":"essential-tales-of-the-zombie-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/10\/23\/essential-tales-of-the-zombie-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Tales of the Zombie volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Roy Thomas<\/strong>, Steve Gerber<\/strong>, Stan Lee<\/strong>, Kit Pearson<\/strong>, Marv Wolfman<\/strong>, Tony Isabella<\/strong>, Chuck Robinson<\/strong>, Chris Claremont<\/strong>, Don McGregor<\/strong>, Doug Moench<\/strong>, Gerry Conway<\/strong>, Lin Carter<\/strong>, John Albano<\/strong>, Gerry Boudreau<\/strong>, Len Wein<\/strong>, Carla Joseph<\/strong>, Kenneth Dreyfack<\/strong>, Carl Wessler<\/strong>, David Anthony Kraft<\/strong>, Larry Lieber<\/strong>, John Warner<\/strong>, \u00a0Tony DiPreta<\/strong>, Bill Everett<\/strong>, John Buscema<\/strong>, Tom Palmer<\/strong>, Pablo Marcos<\/strong> , Dick Ayers<\/strong>, Tom Sutton<\/strong>, Syd Shores<\/strong>, Gene Colan<\/strong>, Dick Giordano<\/strong>, Winslow Mortimer<\/strong>, George Tuska<\/strong>, Ralph Reese<\/strong>, Vincente Alcazar<\/strong>, Bill Walton<\/strong>, Enrique Badia<\/strong>, Rich Buckler<\/strong>, Vic Martin<\/strong>, Ron Wilson<\/strong>, Ernie Chan<\/strong>, Russ Heath<\/strong>, Frank Springer<\/strong>, Alfredo Alcala<\/strong>, Dan Green<\/strong>, Michael Kaluta<\/strong>, Mike Esposito<\/strong>, Frank Giacoia<\/strong>, Virgilio Redondo<\/strong>, Yong Montano<\/strong>, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga<\/strong>, Rudy Nebres<\/strong>, Boris Vallejo<\/strong>, Earl Norem<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN 0-7851-1916-7 (TPB)<\/p>\n

Inspiration isn\u2019t everything. In fact, as Marvel slowly grew to a position of market dominance in the wake of the losing their two most innovative and inspirational creators, they did so less by experimentation and more by expanding established concepts and properties. The only exception was an en masse<\/em> creation of horror titles in response to the industry down-turn in super-hero sales – a move expedited by a rapid revision in the wordings of the increasingly ineffectual Comics Code Authority rules.<\/p>\n

The switch to sinister supernatural stars brought numerous benefits. Most importantly, it drew a new readership to comics: one attuned to a global revival in spiritualism, Satanism and all things spooky. Almost as important, it gave the reprint-reliant company opportunity to finally recycle old 1950s horror stories that had been rendered unprintable and useless since the code\u2019s inception in 1954.<\/p>\n

Spanning August 1973 to March 1975, this moody monochrome tome collects Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #1-10, plus pertinent portions of Dracula Lives<\/strong> #1-2 but – despite targeting the more mature monochrome magazine market of the 1970s – these stories are oddly coy for a generation born before \u00a0video nasties, teen-slasher movies or torture-porn, so it\u2019s unlikely that you\u2019ll need a sofa to hide behind\u2026<\/p>\n

The chillers commences with \u2018Zombie!\u2019 <\/em>illustrated by unsung legend Tony DiPreta: one of those aforementioned, unleashed 1950s reprints which found its way as cheap filler into the back of Dracula Lives<\/strong> #1 (August 1973). In this intriguing pot-boiler criminal Blackie Nolan<\/em> runs for his life when the man he framed for his crimes animates a corpse to exact revenge\u2026<\/p>\n

A few months earlier, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas had green-lit a new mature-reader anthology magazine starring a walking deadman, based on a classic 1953 Stan Lee\/Bill Everett thriller published in Menace<\/strong> #5.<\/p>\n

Cover-dated July 1973, Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #1 contained a mix of all-new material, choice reprints and text features to thrill and chill the voodoo devotees of comics land. The undead excitement began with \u2018Altar of the Damned\u2019<\/em> by Thomas, Steve Gerber, John Buscema & Tom Palmer, introducing wealthy Louisiana coffee-magnate Simon Garth<\/em> as he frantically breaks free of a voodoo cult determined to sacrifice him.<\/p>\n

He is aided by priestess Layla<\/em> who usually earns her daily bread as his secretary. Sadly, the attempt fails and Garth dies, only to be brought back as a mighty, mindless slave of his worst enemy Gyps<\/em> – a petty, lecherous gardener fired for leering at the boss\u2019 daughter\u2026<\/p>\n

Next comes a retouched, modified reprint of the aforementioned Everett \u2018Zombie!\u2019 <\/em>yarn, adapted to depict Garth as the corpse-walker rampaging through Mardi Gras and inflicting a far more permanent punishment on the ghastly gardener, after which Dick Ayers limned \u2018Iron Head\u2019 <\/em>as a deep sea diver take a decidedly different look at the native art of resurrection\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018The Sensuous Zombie!\u2019 <\/em>is a cinematic history of the sub-genre and \u2018Back to Back and Belly to Belly at the Zombie Jamboree Ball!\u2019 <\/em>delivers <\/em>an editorial tribute to Bill Everett.<\/p>\n

after which Kit Pearson, Marv Wolfman & Pablo Marcos expose the secret of \u2018The Thing From the Bog!\u2019 <\/em>before Tom Sutton applies a disinterred tongue to his cheek for the blackly comic story of \u2018The Mastermind!\u2019<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gerber, Buscema & Syd Shores the saga of Simon Garth in \u2018Night of the Walking Dead!\u2019<\/em>, as the murdered man\u2019s daughter loses the arcane amulet which controls the zombie to a psychotic sneak thief\u2026<\/p>\n

Dracula Lives<\/strong> #2 introduces \u2018The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans!\u2019 <\/em>(Thomas, Gene Colan & Dick Giordano relates the Lord of Vampires\u2019 clash with undying mistress of magic Marie Laveau<\/em> (tenuously included here as the charismatic bloodsucker strides past the recently deceased Garth on a crowded Mardi Gras street) before Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #2 unfolds in its gory entirety.<\/p>\n

Gerber & Marcos led off with \u2018Voodoo Island!\u2019 <\/em>as daughter Donna Garth<\/em> takes ship for Port-Au-Prince, determined to learn all she can about the dark arts, whilst the shambling cadaver of her father is drawn into the nefarious affairs of criminal mastermind Mr. Six<\/em>. By circuitous means, mindless but instinct-driven Garth also ends up in Haiti – just as a madman turning women into giant spiders decides Donna is an ideal test subject\u2026<\/p>\n

Luckily, the former coffee-king\u2019s best friend Anton Cartier<\/em> is a resident – and expert in Voodoo lore\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Voodoo Unto Others\u2019<\/em> by Tony Isabella & Winslow Mortimer tells a grim but affecting tale of the law of the Loa, whilst \u2018Acid Test\u2019<\/em> by Stan Lee & George Tuska is another 1950\u2019s thriller culled from Marvel\u2019s vaults, followed by a text feature by Isabella trumpeting the company\u2019s \u201cnext big thing\u201d with \u2018Introducing Brother Voodoo\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

It was back to contemporary times with stunning graveyard re-animator yarn \u2018Twin Burial\u2019 <\/em>by Chuck Robinson & Ralph Reese, balanced by Colan classic \u2018From Out of the Grave\u2019 <\/em>after which Chris Claremont asks in expansive prose piece, \u2018Voodoo: What\u2019s It All About, Alfred?\u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

Gerber & Marcos conclude their Garth saga in \u2018Night of the Spider!\u2019 <\/em>before <\/em>TotZ<\/strong> #3 sees the Zombie still lurching around Haiti in \u2018When the Gods Crave Flesh!\u2019<\/em>, encountering a manic film director and his histrionic starlet wife who want to expose Voodoo to the judgemental celluloid eye of Hollywood.<\/p>\n

Bad, bad, bad idea\u2026<\/p>\n

Claremont scripted a prose shocker next, contributing part 1 of \u2018With the Dawn Comes Death!\u2019<\/em> – illustrated with stock movie stills – before \u2018Net Result\u2019 <\/em>offers another Atlas-era DiPreta delight, after which Isabella & Vincente Alcazar excel with an epic of samurai-against-dragon in \u2018Warrior\u2019s Burden\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Don McGregor\u2019s \u2018The Night of the Living Dead Goes on and on and on\u2019 <\/em>provides in-depth analysis of the movie that restarted it all, and Bill Walton limns Fifties fear-fest \u2018I Won\u2019t Stay Dead\u2019 <\/em>before Doug Moench & Enrique Badia deliver a period piece of perfidious plantation peril in \u2018Jilimbi[s Word\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tales of the Zombie Feature Page\u2019 <\/em>closes the issue with a Gerber interview and critique of George A. Romero\u2019s film Codename: Trixie <\/strong>– which we know today as The Crazies <\/strong>– before Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #4 (March 1974) opens with \u2018The Law and Phillip Bliss\u2019 <\/em>as the mystic Amulet of Damballah irresistibly draws Garth back to New Orleans at the unwitting behest of a down-and-out with a grudge\u2026<\/p>\n

Another movie feature by McGregor follows, examining the spooky overtones of then-current Bond<\/strong> flick Live and Let Die<\/strong>, <\/em>after which Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler, Vic Martin & Mortimer crafted a comic strip film-thriller in \u2018The Drums of Doom!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Fantasy author Lin Carter explores modern supernatural proliferation in \u2018Neo-Witchcraft\u2019 <\/em>before \u2018Courtship by Voodoo\u2019<\/em> (Isabella & Ron Wilson) recounts Egyptian romantic antics, and Moench & Mortimer disclose the downside of desecrating graves in \u2018Nightfilth Rising\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

John Albano & Ernie Chua (nee Chan) tell a tragic tale of \u2018Four Daughters of Satan\u2019 <\/em>before \u2018The Law and Phillip Bliss\u2019 <\/em>concludes in cathartic slaughter of high-priced lawyers, whilst \u2018The Zombie Feature Page\u2019 <\/em>highlights the work and life of artist Pablo Marcos.<\/p>\n

\u2018Palace of Black Magic!\u2019 <\/em>then sees Phil Glass lose the amulet – and control of Garth – to Mr. Six with the Zombie becoming a terrifying weapon of sinister Voodoun lord Papa Shorty<\/em>, until his new master\u2019s own arrogance lead to carnage and a kind of freedom for the Dead Man Walking. Issue #5 continues with Moench\u2019s filmic tribute article \u2018White Zombie: Faithful Unto Death\u2019 <\/em>and a Russ Heath Atlas classic \u2018Who Walks with a Zombie?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

The concluding instalment of Claremont\u2019s article \u2018With the Dawn Comes Death!\u2019 <\/em>precedes text infomercial \u2018Brother Voodoo Lives Again\u2019<\/em> and new western horror saga \u2018Voodoo War\u2019 <\/em>by Isabella, Shores & Ayers, and TotZ<\/strong># 5 ends on a gritty high with \u2018Death\u2019s Bleak Birth!\u2019<\/em>: a powerful supernatural crime thriller by Moench & Frank Springer.<\/p>\n

Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #6 (July) opens with a handy update of events thus far before launching into Gerber & Marcos\u2019 \u2018Child of Darkness!\u2019 <\/em>wherein the anguished ambulatory remains of Simon Garth interrupt a Voodoo ritual and encounter once more the Mambo Layla, who tries in vain to save him before his death and revivification. Even together, they are unprepared for the vicious thing lurking in the swamp\u2019s deepest recesses\u2026<\/p>\n

Gerry Boudreau explores the genre\u2019s history by critiquing Hammer Films\u2019 \u2018The Plague of the Zombies\u2019<\/em>, followed by a hilarious photo-feature on Zombie\/blacksploitation movie \u2018Sugar Hill\u2019 <\/em>and Claremont\u2019s article on all things undead \u2018The Compleat Voodoo Man\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Brother Voodoo<\/strong> initially ran in Strange Tales<\/strong> #169-173 (September 1973-April 1974) but ended on a cliffhanger. It finishes here in Moench, Len Wein, Colan & Frank Chiaramonte\u2019s \u2018End of a Legend!\u2019 <\/em>as the Man with Two Souls finally defeats Voodoo villain Black Talon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Carla Joseph\u2019s \u2018The Voodoo Beat\u2019 <\/em>rounds up a selection of movies and books then available regarding all things Cadaverous and Fetishy before Moench & Alfredo Alcala provide a fill-in tale in \u2018The Blood-Testament of Brian Collier\u2019 <\/em>wherein Garth shambles into a High Society murder-mystery, followed by a Village Voice<\/strong> article by Kenneth Dreyfack on \u2018Voodoo in the Park\u2019<\/em>, notable for comics fans because it\u2019s illustrated by future great Dan Green.<\/p>\n

Moench & Mortimer\u2019s comics featurette \u2018Haiti\u2019s Walking Dead\u2019 <\/em>and Claremont\u2019s book review \u2018Inside Voodoo\u2019 <\/em>take us the issue end and <\/em>\u2018A Second Chance to Die\u2019<\/em> – a classy short thriller by Carl Wessler & Alcala.<\/p>\n

Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #8 (November) opens with a similar frontispiece feature by Isabella & Michael Kaluta \u2018The Voodoo Killers\u2019 <\/em>before Gerber & Marcos return with \u2018A Death Made of Ticky-Tacky\u2019 <\/em>as Garth and Layla finally reach New Orleans and fall foul of bored urban swingers seeking a different kind of good time. \u2018Jimmy Doesn\u2019t Live Here Anymore\u2019 <\/em>offers a chilling prose vignette from David Anthony Kraft, liberally illustrated by Kaluta.<\/p>\n

\u2018Night of the Hunter\u2019 <\/em>by scripter Larry Lieber and artists Ron Wilson, Mike Esposito & Frank Giacoia sees a corrupt prison guard realise he\u2019s tortured and killed the wrong black man, when the victim\u2019s brother turns up straight from the sinister heart of Haiti\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Tales of the Happy Humfo\u2019 <\/em>is another Claremont voodoo article, spiced up with Kaluta drawings after which Alcala again closes show down with \u2018Makao\u2019s Vengeance\u2019<\/em>: <\/em>a slick jungle chiller scripted by Kraft.<\/p>\n

The first issue of 1975 opens with Isabella & Mortimer\u2019s \u2018Was He a Voodoo-Man?\u2019<\/em>, after which the author scripted stunning Zombie headliner \u2018Simon Garth Lives Again!\u2019<\/em>, <\/em>illustrated by Virgilio Redondo & Alcala, and Claremont & Yong Montano contribute second chapter \u2018A Day in the Life of a Dead Man\u2019 <\/em>(Alcala inks) before Isabella & Marcos conclude the Garth extravaganza with \u2018The Second Death Around\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

As an added bonus Moench & Alcala also designed a swampy slaughter-party in \u2018Herbie the Liar Said it Wouldn\u2019t Hurt!\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Tales of the Zombie<\/strong> #10 (March 1975) leads with a Brother Voodoo tale by Moench & Tony DeZu\u00f1iga, wherein the Lord of the Loa struggles to prevent \u2018The Resurrection of Papa Jambo\u2019 <\/em>because the scheduled Simon Garth saga had been lost in the post at time of printing). Bringing up the rear were medical nightmare \u2018Eye For an Eye, Tooth For a Tooth\u2019<\/em> by Conway, Virgilio Redondo & Rudy Nebres and Wessler, John Warner & Alcazar\u2019s death-row chiller \u2018Malaka\u2019s Curse!\u2019 <\/em>with Sutton\u2019s macabre \u2018Grave Business\u2019<\/em> the last seen treat\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

By this time the horror boom was beginning to bust, and the advertised 11th<\/sup> issue never materialised. An all-reprint Tales of the Zombie Super-Annual<\/strong> was released that summer, with only its cover reproduced here.<\/p>\n

Peppered with vivid Zombie pin-ups by Marcos & Sutton, and covers by Boris Vallejo and Earl Norem, this intriguing monochrome compendium – although a bit dated – contains what passed for Explicit Content in the mid-1970s, so although the frights should be nothing for today\u2019s older kids, the occasional nipple or buttock might well send them screaming over the edge.<\/p>\n

However, with appropriate mature supervision I\u2019m sure this groovy gore-fest will delight many a brain-eating fright fan, until Marvel get around to properly reviving this tragic revenant\u2019s roots and earliest recorded revels.
\n\u00a9 1973, 1974, 1975, 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roy Thomas, Steve Gerber, Stan Lee, Kit Pearson, Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella, Chuck Robinson, Chris Claremont, Don McGregor, Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, Lin Carter, John Albano, Gerry Boudreau, Len Wein, Carla Joseph, Kenneth Dreyfack, Carl Wessler, David Anthony Kraft, Larry Lieber, John Warner, \u00a0Tony DiPreta, Bill Everett, John Buscema, Tom Palmer, Pablo Marcos , … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Essential Tales of the Zombie volume 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[300,66,71,146,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dracula","category-horror-stories","category-marvel-essentials","category-marvel-horror","category-mature-reading"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6XR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26775"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26779,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26775\/revisions\/26779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}